COLORADO SPRINGS — Hyperglycemia was associated with a significantly increased stroke risk in a prospective study of 43,393 asymptomatic middle-aged men free of known cardiovascular disease and diabetes at baseline.
This finding raises the possibility that prevention and treatment of hyperglycemia could play a major role in stroke prevention, Dr. Xuemei Sui reported at a conference sponsored by the American Heart Association.
The men were seen for a preventive medical examination at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas during 1971–2003. During nearly 703,000 man-years of follow-up, the group collectively experienced 156 fatal and 456 nonfatal strokes.
The age-adjusted fatal stroke rate was 2.1 cases per 10,000 man-years in subjects with a normal fasting plasma glucose (FPG) of 80–109 mg/dL, 3.4/10,000 man-years in those with impaired fasting glucose as defined by an FPG of 110–125 mg/dL, and 4.0/10,000 man-years in subjects with undiagnosed diabetes as reflected in an FPG of 126 mg/dL or above.
Among men with an FPG of 110 mg/dL or more, each 10-mg/dL increment in FPG was associated with a 7% increased risk of total stroke events after adjustment for risk factors such as family history of cardiovascular disease, age, and body mass index, said Dr. Sui of the University of South Carolina, Columbia.